Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Crumbling infrastructure and insufficient maintenance brought Shawano County leaders together Thursday as part of a statewide push for improved state funding for roads and bridges.
Representatives of cities, towns and villages countywide called for state lawmakers to break a deadlock over the correct manner of increasing highway funding in the state budget.
The gathering at the Shawano County Courthouse was part of a statewide effort, dubbed “Turnout For Transportation,” to apply pressure on Gov. Scott Walker and legislative leaders in Madison.
In one of several such meetings that were planned throughout the state Thursday, participants took turns highlighting the infrastructure needs in their hometowns and expressing dissatisfaction with the state’s inability to agree on sources of adequate funding.
“It’s just a downward trend,” Herman Town Chairman Joe DeBaker said of the deteriorating quality of roads in his community. “You look down the road, and the future ain’t bright.”
DeBaker joined more than 30 other local leaders from Shawano, Bonduel, Wittenberg, Birnamwood, Red Springs, Green Valley and elsewhere, in what organizers hoped would create statewide momentum for forging a solution to the standoff in state government.
The event occurred as state leaders grapple with conflicting proposals for addressing the state’s infrastructure needs. Republicans led by Walker have advocated borrowing money to avoid tax or fee increases, while Democratic leaders have pushed for raising the state gas tax to avoid incurring more debt.
As the deadlock deepens, funding for road and bridge maintenance in the county and elsewhere has grown flat or worse.
County Highway Commissioner Grant Bystol and his staff outlined Thursday how tight funding has forced the county to cut back on road upkeep, as well as repairs to 15 bridges throughout the county that are classified as structurally deficient.
Bystol cautioned the city, town and village representatives that infrastructure woes would worsen if more resources are not allocated.
“Wisconsin needs a sustainable solution,” he told the crowd. “That’s why we’re all here tonight.”
Joining forces to launch the “Turnout For Transportation” effort were the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, the Wisconsin Towns Association and the Wisconsin Counties Association. Organizers called it an historic statewide mobilization for improved infrastructure.
“This is an absolutely first-of-its-kind event,” League of Wisconsin Municipalities executive director Jerry Deschane said in a prepared statement. “It’s not just about town and county roads and city streets and interstates. It’s about how all aspects of our transportation work together.”
In addition to Shawano County, other gatherings were held Thursday in Green Bay, Fond Du Lac, Oshkosh, Sturgeon Bay, Oconto, Crivitz and elsewhere.
Organizers did not advocate any specific solution in the debate over raising taxes or increasing borrowing, but they urged participants to contact state lawmakers and push for a strategy to increase highway funding.
Richmond Town Clerk Rick Stadelman said state-mandated tax caps have limited local government’s ability to raise revenue, and Walker’s insistence on avoiding state tax increases has squeezed the state budget. Borrowing to fund state government, meanwhile, has driven debt payments so high that resources for basic state programs have grown even more scarce, Stadelman said.
“At some point, we’ve got to bite the bullet and raise the funds we need,” he said.
Shawano public works coordinator Eddie Sheppard told the crowd that city crews have resorted to superficial patchwork on some roads because of inadequate resources to undertake needed rebuilding efforts. Sheppard joined others in expressing frustration at the city’s crumbling infrastructure.
“The money is just not there,” he said. “There’s just no money to do anything beyond the bare minimum.”